This invention relates to a process for treating one or more contaminant components, e.g., organic materials particularly hydrocarbon-based materials, such as petroleum and petroleum fractions, and inorganic materials, in aqueous-based materials. More particularly, the invention relates to a process wherein one or more of such contaminant components in aqueous-based materials are chemically modified to increase the overall environmental quality or acceptability of the aqueous-based materials.
Petroleum and petroleum fractions are important fuels, sources of petrochemicals and chemicals, and large amounts are burned and consumed as feed stocks and/or chemical products. One of the principal drawbacks of the use of these materials as fuels, feedstocks and/or chemical products is that many such materials contain amounts of hydrocarbon and other organic components which generate unacceptable amounts of contaminants or pollutants, e.g., components which detrimentally affect the environmental quality or acceptability of the material in which such components are located, particularly in aqueous-based materials, such as process water streams, contaminated ground water streams and the like.
Similarly, aqueous-based streams containing objectionable inorganic contaminant components can be generated from important processes such as ore extraction, photographic processing, synthetics manufacturing and metal finishing. Such wastes can contain, for example, cyanide, arsenic, hydrazine and the like.
Many wastes, particularly hazardous wastes, are aqueous-based (water-based) solutions of toxic, contaminant components. The petroleum, paint and chemical industries are only a few of the industries generating large volumes of organic and/or inorganic contaminant components in aqueous-based materials.
Contaminated aqueous-based materials can be treated by extraction processes or destruction processes. In extraction processes, the contaminant components are removed from the solutions and thereby concentrated. The extracted materials are often reused. In destruction processes, such as biological degradation, wet air oxidation and chemical dechlorination, the contaminant components are rendered less hazardous by destruction. Many of the prior art destruction processes are either sensitive to contaminant components, e.g., heavy metal and cyanide toxicity in biological systems, and/or have high capital and/or operating costs associated with their use.
It would clearly be advantageous to process such organic and/or inorganic contaminant components, e.g., modify and/or otherwise treat such contaminated aqueous-based materials, to reduce the above-noted pollution concerns. In addition, it would be further advantageous for such processes to be usable for hazardous and non-hazardous materials and overcome many of the process toxic sensitivities and high costs associated with the prior art processes.